约翰福音 11
Chinese Standard Bible (Simplified)
拉撒路之死
11 有一个叫拉撒路的病人，住在伯大尼，就是玛丽亚和她的姐姐[a]玛妲住的村子。 2 这玛丽亚就是用香液膏抹主，又用自己的头发擦他脚的那一个。是她的弟弟拉撒路患了病。 3 姐妹俩派人到耶稣那里说：“主啊，你看，你所爱的人患了病。”
4 耶稣听了就说：“这病不至于死，而是为了神的荣耀，好使神的儿子由此得荣耀。” 5 耶稣一向爱玛妲和她的妹妹，以及拉撒路。 6 然而当他听说拉撒路患了病，还继续在原来的地方住了两天， 7 此后才对门徒说：“我们再到犹太去吧。”
8 门徒们说：“拉比，近来犹太人想用石头砸死你，你还再到那里去吗？”
9 耶稣回答：“白天不是有十二个小时吗？人如果在白天行走，就不会绊倒，因为他看见这世界的光。 10 但人如果在黑夜里行走，就会绊倒，因为在他里面没有光。” 11 耶稣讲了这些话，然后对他们说：“我们的朋友拉撒路睡了，我要去叫醒他。”
12 门徒们就对他说：“主啊，他如果是睡着了，就有救了！”
13 其实耶稣说的是拉撒路的死，他们却以为他说的是睡觉休息。 14 于是耶稣明确地告诉他们：“拉撒路死了！ 15 我为你们欢喜，因为我不在那里，好使你们可以相信。现在我们到他那里去吧。”
16 那叫迪杜马[b]的多马，对其他门徒说：“我们也去吧，让我们与主[c]一起死！”
复活与生命
17 耶稣到了，知道拉撒路在坟墓里已经有四天了。 18 伯大尼离耶路撒冷不远，约有三公里[d]。 19 许多犹太人到玛妲和玛丽亚那里去，为了她们弟弟的事安慰她们。 20 玛妲一听说耶稣来了，就去迎接他。玛丽亚却仍然坐在家里。
21 玛妲对耶稣说：“主啊，如果你早在这里，我弟弟就不会死了。 22 不过我知道，即使是现在，你无论向神求什么，神都将赐给你的。”
23 耶稣对她说：“你弟弟会复活的。”
24 玛妲说：“我知道在末日复活的时候，他会复活。”
25 耶稣对她说：“我就是复活，我就是生命。信我的人，即使死了，也将要活。 26 所有活着而信我的人绝不会死，直到永远。你信这话吗？”
27 玛妲说：“是的，主啊！我相信你是基督，是神的儿子，就是要到世界上来的那一位。”
耶稣流泪
28 玛妲说了这[e]话，就回去叫她的妹妹玛丽亚，悄悄地说：“老师来到这里，叫你过去。”
29 玛丽亚一听，就立即起来，往耶稣那里去。 30 当时，耶稣还没有进村子，仍在玛妲迎接他的地方。 31 那些在玛丽亚家里安慰她的犹太人，看见她匆忙起身出去，以为[f]她要到坟墓那里去哭，就跟着她。
32 玛丽亚到了耶稣那里，一看见他，就俯伏在他的脚前，说：“主啊，如果你早在这里，我弟弟就不会死了。”
33 耶稣看见玛丽亚在哭，陪她一起来的犹太人也在哭，就灵里愤怒，内心烦扰。 34 他问：“你们把他安放在哪里？”
他们回答说：“主啊，请来看。”
35 耶稣流泪了。
36 犹太人就说：“你看，他多么爱拉撒路！” 37 但是其中有些人说：“这个人既然开了瞎子的眼睛，难道就不能使拉撒路不死吗？”
使拉撒路复活
38 耶稣自己里面再次感到愤怒，来到坟墓那里。那坟墓是个洞穴，有一块石头放置在洞口。 39 耶稣吩咐：“把石头挪开。”
死者的姐姐玛妲说：“主啊，他已经发臭了，因为是第四天了。”
40 耶稣对她说：“我不是对你说过，你如果信，就会看见神的荣耀吗？”
41 于是他们把[g]石头挪开。耶稣向上举目，说：“父啊，我感谢你，因为你已经垂听了我。 42 我知道你总是在垂听我，但我这么说，是为了这些站在周围的民众，好让他们相信是你差派了我。” 43 耶稣说了这些话，就大声呼唤：“拉撒路，出来！” 44 那死了的人就出来了；手脚缠着布条，脸上包着头巾。耶稣对他们说：“解开他，让他走！”
阴谋杀害耶稣
45 来到玛丽亚那里的许多犹太人，看到耶稣所做的事，就信了耶稣。 46 然而，其中有些人到法利赛人那里去，向他们报告耶稣所行的事。
47 于是祭司长们和法利赛人召集了议会，说：“这个人行了很多神迹，我们该做什么呢？ 48 如果任凭他这样下去，大家都会信他，罗马人就会来，夺取我们的圣地和国家！”
49 其中有一个人叫该亚法，是当年的大祭司，对他们说：“你们什么都不懂！ 50 也不想一想，一个人替民众死，免得全民族灭亡，这对你们[h]是有益处的。” 51 他说这话不是出于自己，只因他是当年的大祭司，就预言了耶稣要替全民族而死； 52 而且不仅是替犹太民族死，也是要把神的那些四散的儿女都召集合一。 53 从那天起，他们就商议要把耶稣杀掉。 54 因此，耶稣不再公开地在犹太人当中行事[i]，而是离开那里，到旷野附近的地方，进了一个叫以法莲的城，在那里与门徒们住下了。
55 犹太人的逾越节快到了。许多人从乡下上耶路撒冷去，要在节日前洁净自己。 56 他们寻找耶稣，站在圣殿里彼此谈论说：“你们怎么看，他绝不会来过节吧？” 57 原来，祭司长们和法利赛人早就下令，如果有人知道耶稣在哪里，就要报告，好抓住他。
Footnotes
- 约翰福音 11:1 姐姐——原文直译“姐妹”。
- 约翰福音 11:16 迪杜马——意思为“双胞胎”。
- 约翰福音 11:16 主——原文直译“他”。
- 约翰福音 11:18 三公里——原文为“15视距”。1视距=185公尺。
- 约翰福音 11:28 这——有古抄本作“这些”。
- 约翰福音 11:31 以为——有古抄本作“说”。
- 约翰福音 11:41 有古抄本附“安放死人那里的”。
- 约翰福音 11:50 你们——有古抄本作“我们”。
- 约翰福音 11:54 行事——原文直译“行走”。
John 11
Expanded Bible
The Death of Lazarus
11 A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in the town of Bethany, where Mary and her sister Martha lived [C near Jerusalem to the east, not the same Bethany as in 1:28]. 2 Mary was the woman who ·later put perfume on the Lord [L anointed the Lord with perfume/ointment/fragrant oil] and wiped his feet with her hair [12:1–8]. Mary’s brother was Lazarus, the man who was now sick. 3 So ·Mary and Martha [L the sisters] sent someone to tell Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
4 When Jesus heard this, he said, “This sickness will not end in death. It is for the glory of God, to bring glory to the Son of God.” 5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 ·But [or So] when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was for two more days. 7 Then Jesus said to his ·followers [disciples], “Let’s go back to Judea.”
8 The ·followers [disciples] said to him, “But Teacher [L Rabbi], ·some people [the Jewish leaders; L the Jews] there tried to stone you to death only a short time ago. Now you want to go back there?”
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours ·in the day [of daylight]? If anyone walks in the daylight, he will not stumble, because he can see by ·this world’s light [C the sun]. 10 But if anyone walks at night, he stumbles because ·there is no light to help him see [L the light is not in him].”
11 After Jesus said this, he added, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him.”
12 The ·followers [disciples] said, “But Lord, if he is only asleep, he will ·be all right [recover; get better; L be saved/healed].”
13 [L But] Jesus meant that Lazarus was dead, but his followers thought he meant Lazarus was really sleeping. 14 So then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15 And I ·am glad [rejoice] for your sakes I was not there so that you may believe. But let’s go to him now.”
16 Then Thomas (the one called Didymus [C meaning, “the Twin”]) said to ·the other followers [his fellow disciples], “Let us also go so that we can die with him.”
Jesus in Bethany
17 When Jesus arrived, he learned that Lazarus had already been dead and in the tomb for four days. [C Some Jews believed that a soul would stay near a body for up to three days after death.] 18 Bethany was about two miles [L fifteen stadia; C a stadion was about 600 ft.] from Jerusalem. 19 Many of the Jews had come there to ·comfort [console] Martha and Mary about their brother.
20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary ·stayed [L was sitting at] home. 21 Martha [L then] said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you anything you ask.”
23 Jesus said, “Your brother will rise and live again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know that he will rise and live again in the resurrection on the last day.” [C Many Jews, particularly Pharisees, believed in a future bodily resurrection.]
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. ·Those who believe [L The one who believes…] in me will have life even if they die. 26 And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 Martha answered, “Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the ·Christ [Messiah], the Son of God, the One ·coming to [who was to come into] the world.”
Jesus Weeps
28 After Martha said this, she went back and ·talked to [summoned] her sister Mary ·alone [privately]. Martha said, “The Teacher is here and he is ·asking for [summoning; calling for] you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to Jesus. 30 Jesus had not yet come into the town but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 The Jews were with Mary in the house, ·comforting [consoling] her. When they saw her stand and leave quickly, they followed her, thinking she was going to the tomb to weep there.
32 But Mary went to the place where Jesus was. When she saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw Mary weeping and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was ·upset [L disturbed in spirit] and was deeply troubled. 34 He asked, “Where ·did you bury [L have you put] him?”
“Come and see, Lord,” they said.
35 Jesus wept.
36 So the Jews said, “See how much he loved him.”
37 But some of them said, “·If Jesus [L Could not the one who…] opened the eyes of the blind man, why couldn’t he keep ·Lazarus [L this man] from dying?”
Jesus Raises Lazarus
38 Again feeling ·very upset [deeply disturbed/moved], Jesus came to the tomb. It was a cave with a large stone ·covering the entrance [L lying on/against it; C Jews typically buried their dead in caves with stones covering the entrance]. 39 Jesus said, “Move the stone away.”
Martha, the sister of the dead man, said, “But, Lord, it has been ·four days since he died [see 11:17]. There will be a ·bad smell [stench].”
40 Then Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”
41 So they moved the stone away from the entrance. Then Jesus ·looked up [L raised his eyes] and said, “Father, I thank you that you heard me. 42 I know that you always hear me, but I said these things ·because [for the benefit] of the people here around me. ·I want them to [L so that they might] believe that you sent me.” 43 After Jesus said this, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come ·out [T forth]!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with ·pieces of cloth [strips of linen; graveclothes; C the dead were wrapped in strips of cloth], and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take the cloth off of him and let him go.”
The Plan to Kill Jesus
45 [L So] Many of the ·people [L Jews], who had come to visit Mary and saw what Jesus did, believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the ·leading [T chief] priests and Pharisees called a meeting of the ·council [L Sanhedrin; C the highest Jewish court of the time]. They asked, “·What should we do? [or What are we accomplishing?] This man is doing many ·miracles [L signs]. 48 If we let him continue doing these things, everyone will believe in him. Then the Romans will come and take away our ·Temple [L place; C probably a reference to the “holy place”—the Jerusalem Temple] and our nation.”
49 One of the men there was Caiaphas, the high priest that year. [C He was high priest between ad 18 and 36.] He said, “·You people know nothing [You don’t know what you are talking about]! 50 You don’t realize that it is better [L for you] for one man to die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.”
51 Caiaphas did not ·think of this himself [L say this from himself]. As high priest that year, he was really prophesying that Jesus would die for their nation 52 and for God’s scattered children to bring them all together and make them one. [C Although Caiaphas was thinking politically, his words predicted spiritual salvation.]
53 [L So from] That day they started ·planning [plotting] to kill Jesus. 54 So Jesus no longer ·traveled [L walked] openly among the ·people [Jews]. He ·left there [withdrew; departed] and went to a ·place [region] near the ·desert [wilderness], to a town called Ephraim and stayed there with his ·followers [disciples].
55 It was almost time for the ·Passover Feast [L Passover of the Jews; C the annual festival that celebrates God’s rescue of Israel from Egypt; Ex. 12; John 2:13]. Many from the country went up to Jerusalem before the Passover to ·do the special things to make themselves pure [L purify/consecrate themselves; Num. 9:6–13]. 56 The people ·looked for [sought] Jesus and stood in the Temple [courts] asking each other, “·Is he [L Surely he is not] coming to the Feast? What do you think?” 57 But the ·leading [T chief] priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where Jesus was, he must tell them. Then they could ·arrest [seize] him.
John 11
New Catholic Bible
I Am the Resurrection[a]
Chapter 11
Death of Lazarus.[b] 1 In Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha, a certain man named Lazarus had fallen ill. 2 This Mary was the woman who had anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was ill. 3 And so the sisters sent this message to him, “Lord, the one you love is ill.”
4 When Jesus heard this, he said,
“This illness is not to end in death.
Rather, it is for God’s glory,
so that by means of it
the Son of Man may be glorified.”
5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So after learning that Lazarus was ill, he remained for two more days in the place where he was. 7 Then he said to his disciples, “Let us return to Judea.” 8 His disciples said to him, “Rabbi, just a short time ago the Jews were trying to stone you. Why do you want to go back there?” 9 Jesus answered,
“Are there not twelve hours of daylight?
If someone walks in the daylight,
he does not stumble,
because he sees by the light of this world.
10 But if he walks at night,
he stumbles,
because he does not have the light.”
11 After saying this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” 12 The disciples responded, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 Jesus, however, had been speaking about the death of Lazarus, but they thought that he was speaking of ordinary sleep.
14 Finally, Jesus told them in plain words, “Lazarus is dead. 15 I am glad for your sake that I was not there, so that you may believe. Let us go to him.” 16 Then Thomas (who was called “the Twin”[c]) said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go so that we may die with him.”
17 The Kingdom and the Promise of the Resurrection.[d] When Jesus arrived, he learned that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.[e] 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles distant, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them[f] for the loss of their brother.
20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went forth to meet him, while Mary remained at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will grant you whatever you ask of him.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha replied, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus then said to her,
“I am the resurrection and the life.
Whoever believes in me,
even though he dies, will live,
26 and everyone who lives
and believes in me
will never die.
Do you believe this?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied. “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is to come into the world.”
28 When she had said this, she went back and took her sister Mary aside, telling her privately, “The Teacher is here and is asking for you.” 29 As soon as she heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 For Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who were in the house consoling her saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, assuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
32 Mary came to the place where Jesus was, and as soon as she saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and beheld the Jews who were with her also weeping, he became deeply moved in spirit and angry. 34 He asked, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus began to weep, 36 causing the Jews to say, “See how greatly he loved him!” 37 But some of them remarked, “He opened the eyes of the blind man. Why could he not have done something to prevent this man’s death?”
38 Again deeply moved, Jesus came to the tomb. It was a cave, with a stone closing the entrance. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him, “Lord, by now there will be a stench, for he has been dead for four days.”
40 Jesus replied, “Did I not tell you that if you have faith you will see the glory of God?” 41 And so they removed the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said,
“Father, I thank you for hearing me.
42 I know that you always hear me,
but I have said this
for the sake of the people standing here,
so that they may believe
that it was you who sent me.”
43 When he had said this, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with linen bands, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Then Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go free.”
45 One Man Must Die for the People.[g] This caused many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, to believe in him. 46 However, some of them went to the Pharisees and reported to them what Jesus had done.
47 As a result, the chief priests and the Pharisees summoned a meeting of the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will start to believe in him, and then the Romans will come and suppress both our temple and our nation.”
49 However, one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year,[h] said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 You do not seem to realize that it is better for us that one man die for the people rather than the whole nation be destroyed.”
51 He did not say this on his own, but as the high priest that year he was prophesying that Jesus was to die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation alone, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God. 53 And so from that day on, they plotted to kill him.[i] 54 As a result, Jesus no longer walked about openly among the Jews. He withdrew to a town called Ephraim[j] in the region bordering the desert, and he remained there with the disciples.
The True Passover That Brings About the Salvation of Humankind[k]
The Hour Has Come[l]
55 The Last Passover.[m]Now the Jewish Passover[n] was drawing near, and many people went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover in order to purify themselves. 56 They kept looking for Jesus, and they asked one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? Will he come to the feast or not?” 57 Meanwhile, the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where he was should inform them so that they might arrest him.
Footnotes
- John 11:1 Unceasingly, Jesus attests that he has come to give life. The Resurrection is the sign that shows he came to give life. Death is no longer the last word on the human condition, and life now assumes an unusual stability; it is filled with endless hope.
- John 11:1 Death spares no one, not even friends of the Son of God. But unhurriedly and without fear, Jesus confronts it in order to liberate from it those he loves. Death can no longer be the final destination; henceforth, it is simply a passage for which sleep is like a first image.
The Gospel of Luke also speaks of the two sisters, Martha and Mary, but without naming their village (Lk 10:38-42); we know from this passage that it was Bethany, and we also learn that they had a brother. Bethany was on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, about two miles from Jerusalem.
One notes the decision of Jesus to accomplish his work without hesitation even to the destiny established by his Father (v. 9); and his light must instill courage into those who follow him (vv. 10-11). - John 11:16 Twin, i.e., Didymus, is the Greek translation of the Aramaic Toma, which means “twin.”
- John 11:17 Faced with the death of a friend and the sufferings of the man’s relatives, Jesus responds with true humanity and a compassionate heart; by restoring life to Lazarus, he shows himself to be the Son of God, to whom the Father has given everything he asks for. The hope of a resurrection on the last day was shared by many believers, such as Martha; this conviction had been growing for about a century or two in fervent Jewish circles, such as that of the Pharisees (2 Mac 7:9-14, 22f; 12:43-45; Dan 12:1-3; see Wis 2:3—3:9). In the time of Jesus, however, the priestly caste in Jerusalem opposed the belief (Acts 23:6-9) and tried to ridicule it (Mt 22:23-33). Here Jesus not only confirms the hope but also reveals that he is the one who fulfills it.
- John 11:17 Four days: the Jews believed that the soul remained near the body for three days after death, giving hope for a return to the body. By the fourth day there was no hope of coming back.
- John 11:19 To console them: according to Jewish custom, there were thirty days of mourning: three days of very great mourning, four days of great mourning, and 23 days of lighter mourning.
- John 11:45 There is peril for the city and its religion unless they accept the unimaginable: that God no longer needs his temple and henceforth is present through Jesus Christ alone. Because of civic and religious considerations it is necessary to decide the fate of this man, who unsettles the certainties and confronts the institutions and the established power.
Without realizing it, Caiaphas, the high priest who had held this office since A.D. 18 and would continue to hold it until A.D. 36, makes a statement that is at the heart of the Christian Faith: Christ will die for all, so that the entire human family may have life. The temple and Jewish tradition are now transcended by a worship and a salvation that are universal. - John 11:49 That year: i.e., at that time. The Jews believed that the high priest possessed a gift of prophecy, which was at times unknowingly carried out (see v. 51).
- John 11:53 Jesus is placed under a death sentence, which the careful reader will suspect to be illegal because of Nicodemus’ question to the authorities in Jn 7:51: “Does our Law allow us to pass judgment on someone without first giving him a hearing to ascertain what he is doing?”
- John 11:54 Ephraim: on the edge of the wilderness of Judea, 16 miles north of Jerusalem.
- John 11:55 It is the feast of Passover in Jerusalem, a time when faith and hope are reborn in the minds of the people, as they commemorate their deliverance from slavery, the formation of the people, the Covenant, the journey to the mountain of God, and the promised land. Lambs are sacrificed, reproducing the shedding of the blood that had preserved the life of Israel long ago. The feast is full of memories, which are at the same time a promise of a different future. This future is now becoming a reality.
There is now a new Passover, the once-for-all Passover that is accomplished not in a ritual but in an action: Jesus fulfills the former Covenant by bringing to pass that which it had announced and prefigured (Ex 12:1-13, 16); he is the true Lamb who gives his life and whose blood poured out delivers the people from enslavement to evil and sin and opens the way to the true promised land, to the Father, in a communion of life with him.
The last section of the Gospel of John is centered on this mystery of the Passion of Christ.
The fate awaiting Jesus from the first pages of this Gospel is fulfilled; his adversaries have decided to put him to death and are waiting to have the sentence executed. It is the reign of darkness. But the hour of Jesus’ death and defeat is another reality, that of triumph and glory; and it will be confirmed by the Resurrection of the Crucified.
The time of the Church will be inaugurated. She will receive the Spirit promised by Jesus and—as is indicated by the last signs (the miraculous catch of fish and the investiture of Peter)—will be established and sent forth to preach everywhere. She is to proclaim salvation and life so as to gather together all believers until the day when Christ will return in his glory as Son of God and Savior of the world. - John 11:55 The time for signs has ended. The glory that the signs announced is going to appear. How? It will not be through the deceitful glory of human triumphs; it will be through the presence of God in the action of Jesus and in the transformation of the human condition. Jesus’ hour of glory is above all the hour of his death.
- John 11:55 According to the tradition followed by the fourth Gospel, the woman who pours the perfume on the feet of Jesus is Mary, the sister of Lazarus. With the prodigality of love she expresses her gratitude for the raising of her brother from the dead; but Jesus evokes his own death, and Mary’s gesture points ahead to this, anticipating by her anointing the rite of burial: it is an act of veneration.
Wasteful squandering? Only Judas, whose shadow already darkens the picture, thinks so. It is not such veneration of Christ that turns his attention to the poor; it is avarice—at the same time that Jesus is being glorified at Bethany, the plot against him is being laid for civic reasons, as we saw earlier. - John 11:55 This is probably the Passover of the year 30, which was to be Jesus’ last. The devout Jews journeyed to Jerusalem to complete the ritual purifications necessary for Passover celebrations (see Ex 19:10-11, 15; Num 9:6-14; 2 Chr 30:1-3, 15-18). Since Jesus had been present in Jerusalem at the feasts of Tabernacles and Dedication, the populace expected him to be there again. A warrant had been issued for his arrest, and anyone who knew his whereabouts had to declare it under penalty of complicity.
Copyright © 2011 by Global Bible Initiative
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
